One of the key problems of modern society is the demographic crisis. It is connected in many ways with the high mortality rate of the population, one of the reasons for which are the frequent cases of suicide. However, the problem of suicide is not new, but is rooted in the historical past. At the same time, in domestic historiography, the problem of suicide is touched upon by few researchers, despite the rather extensive archival fund of forensic investigative documentation. Official statistics allows us to trace the dynamics of the development of suicide cases, as well as the geography of distribution. A certain drawback of official statistics is that local authorities have not always provided reliable data, often underestimating indicators to create the most favorable picture. Statistical data allow clarifying to a certain extent the nature of the causes of suicide, to make their classification. Additional sources, in particular correspondence and private correspondence, can be used to study the issue of suicide. In the article, the author presented an attempt to attract exactly this type of source for the consideration of suicide cases in the official environment. Having considered a specific case presented by archival materials of correspondence and personal correspondence of the governor of the second half of the XIX century, the author came to the conclusion that, despite the detailed presentation of the case of suicide of an official, reflected in telegrams and letters, it is not possible to fully rely on this source without other supporting facts.
For citation:
Radchenko M.L. On the use of correspondence and private correspondence as a historical source to identify the causes of suicides among Russian officials in the second half of the XIX century, Ivanovo State University Bulletin, Series: Humanities, 2023, iss. 4, pp. 88—98.